The priciest city to rent a home around Indy isn't where you'd expect

It’s difficult to travel Downtown without coming across construction of new apartments or a fresh, sleek building with primary-colored panels or stylish faux balconies.
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Fishers' Depot at Nickel Plate is located in one of the priciest areas to rent in the Indianapolis area, according to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.(Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)Buy Photo

If you make minimum wage in Indianapolis or Hamilton County, you can't afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. Period.

And some places in Central Indiana cost a lot more than you might expect.

According to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in two small ZIP codes in Indianapolis — 46278 on the northwest side near Eagle Creek and 46231 on the southwest side near the airport — a person must make $24.42 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment lease. That's $3.65 an hour more than you need to live in Carmel's 46032 ZIP code and equals the wage needed to live in Zionsville.

Booming Fishers comes in second place to those two ZIP codes in Indy and Zionsville. It takes just 19 cents less to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Fishers' 46037 ZIP code than Zionsville, according to the report.

The Out of Reach 2017 report by the housing coalition found that a renter working for the $7.25 an hour minimum wage would have to work an average of 117 hours to afford rent on a two-bedroom home in the U.S.

"In no state can a person working full-time at the federal minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent," the report reads.

Check your ZIP code and see how much you need to make in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to the report.